February 29, 2008

This has nothing to do with design, but I was fascinated anyhow. Think you can tell when someone's smile is forced? Take a quiz, brought to you by the BBC, and find out. Watch little movies of 20 individuals smiling and judge whether they're faking it. I got 11 out of 20 right. That's an F.

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comments:

This was fun. I got 15 out of 20. Not too bad, I guess. I found your blog through Today's Creative Blog. I love it. Really. I am a stay at home mom who is always dreaming of finding time to actually be creative. Your tutorials and artwork are very inspiring.

I went on and took their "sexId Profile" quiz as well. Apparently I (female) am 25% on the side of man "brain". Who knew? I told my boyfriend and he did not believe me. I am curious for him to take it next. We may have to rearrange our pants.

17 / 20 - the ones I missed were the ones that I wasn't certain about, too. Hmm - does this mean I SHOULD work for the FBI? I AM already well-versed in interrogation (getting info from my husband is like getting blood from a stone...).

Sarah, I like your generous interpretation. I had been thinking maybe I am just dumb? Optimistic sounds better than stupid, though, so I like your take on it much better :) And Lisa... um, yeah. I didn't want to comment on that, but I'm so on your wavelength. :) You crack me up.

Great quiz. I got 18 out of 20. I am familiar with Elkman's amazing research into "micro expressions" but haven't read his books yet. I got every single fake smile right. I was fooled by some of the more subtle real smiles.

I got a 19/20. It's true - it's all in the eyes, although I wasn't fixated on them when choosing my answer. At some point, I found myself glazing over the videos and answered based on my instinct instead. I guess some of us are better wired to pick up micro signals naturally. My boyfriend scored 9/20. I'm a sociologist by training and he's a physicist. Wonder if this played a part... or perhaps the age-old man-woman difference.

This was interesting! I got 17/20 and my attitude was that I had better get most of them right because I am so interested in social psychology. My cues were a mouth/eye combo.As always, I love your blog!